Yale university

1. Before reading the text translate the following words and word combinations into Russian using a dictionary:

along with smb.; prominent; to feature a journal/ magazine/ newspaper; intramural sport; vibrant; to be coed; rivals; notably.

2. Yale University is one of the oldest and best-known universities of the USA. Read the text and find the information about:

– the date of foundation;

– famous people who studied at Yale;

– the number of faculty members working at Yale;

– the number of undergraduate and graduate students studying at Yale;

– students' organizations;

– sports life at Yale;

– Yale mascot.

Yale University is a private university in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1701 as the Collegiate School this university is considered as the third-largest university of the USA (after The Harvard University and The College of William and Mary).

All U.S. presidents since 1989 have been Yale graduates, namely George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton (who attended the University's Law School along with his wife, New York Senator Hillary Clinton). Many of the 2004 presidential candidates attended Yale: Dick Cheney (although he did not graduate), John Kerry, Howard Dean, and Joe Lieberman. Many other famous politicians, artists, sportsmen studied at Yale. The Yale School of Drama is notable for producing many prominent Hollywood and Broadway actors.

Yale has 3, 200 faculty members, who teach 5, 200 undergraduate students and 6, 000 graduate students. A large number of students' organizations are associated with the university. The Yale Political Union is the oldest students' political organization in the United States.

The university features a variety of student journals, magazines, and newspapers. The latter category includes the Yale Daily News, which was first published in 1878 and is the oldest daily college newspaper in the United States.

The Yale College Council runs several agencies that oversee campus wide activities and student services. The campus also includes several fraternities and sororities, the most famous of which is The Whiffenpoofs. A number of prominent secret societies, including Skull and Bones, are composed of Yale College students.

Yale intramural sports are a vibrant aspect of student life. Students compete for their respective residential colleges, which fosters a friendly rivalry. The year is divided into Fall, Winter, and Spring seasons, each of which includes about ten different sports. About half the sports are coed. At the end of the year, the residential college with the most points wins the Tyng Cup.

Yale supports 35 varsity athletic teams that compete in the Ivy League. Yale has numerous athletic facilities, including the Yale Bowl (the nation's first natural 'bowl' stadium, and prototype for such stadiums as the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and the Rose Bowl), and the Payne Whitney Gymnasium, the second-largest indoor athletic complex in the world. The Yale Corinthian Yacht Club, founded in 1881, is the oldest collegiate sailing club in the world. The yacht club produced several Olympic sailors. Yale and Harvard have for most of their history been rivals in almost everything, notably academics, rowing and football.

The school mascot is 'Handsome Dan', the famous Yale bulldog, and the Yale fight song contains the refrain, " Bulldog, bulldog, bow wow wow." The school color is Yale Blue (dark blue).

Yale president Richard C. Levin summarized the university's institutional priorities for its fourth century: " First, among the nation's finest research universities, Yale is distinctively committed to excellence in undergraduate education. Second, in our graduate and professional schools, as well as in Yale College, we are committed to the education of leaders."